Our NCERT Solutions for Class 10 History Novels, Society and History are created by experts and masters so students can rely on the accuracy and the details we provide. We cover all the important concepts of Class 10 keeping in mind the CBSE guidelines mentioned in the curriculum. Class 10 NCERT Solutions can be used for any purpose and are great for research and preparation for exams. You develop the skills necessary to answer the tough questions that you’re faced with.

Novels, Society and History Class 10 History NCERT Solutions

Write in Brief

1. Explain the following:
(a) Social changes in Britain which led to an increase in women readers
(b) What actions of Robinson Crusoe make us see him as a typical coloniser.
(c) After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people.
(d) Novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause.

Solution

(a) In eighteenth-century Britain, the middle classes became prosperous. Consequently, women had more leisure time to read and produce books as a result of this change. Aside from that, novels about the feelings and experiences of women were becoming increasingly popular.

(b) A large number of novels were concerned with household life and its difficulties. When it came to domesticity, women had a lot to say and could do so authoritatively. Thus, several novels were created in which the characters’ families were described in great detail.

(c) There were other novels written by women which portrayed some women breaking the traditional norms of the society. Such works allowed women readers to identify and sympathise with the dissenters. As a result of all of these causes, female readers in the United Kingdom are on the rise.

(d) During colonial India, novelists were motivated to write for a political cause since the novel was an effective medium for articulating social problems and proposing solutions to these defects. It also aided in the establishment of a connection with the past. Because people from many walks of life could read books, it was a simple way to spread anti-colonial sentiments to a wide audience. It also contributed to the development of a sense of national solidarity among the people.

2. Outline the changes in technology and society which led to an increase in readers of the novel in eighteenth-century Europe.

Solution

Technology and society changed in a variety of ways during the eighteenth century, which resulted in an increase in the number of people who read novels.

The establishment of libraries, the development of cost-saving printing techniques, and the availability of books for rental on an hourly basis enabled readership to grow beyond the aristocratic class.

With the growth of the book market, authors were freed from the constraints of aristocratic patronage and were able to examine diverse aspects of society in their works, such as women’s and working-class lives, in their works of fiction. Consequently, the number of individuals who read books increased dramatically in eighteenth-century Europe as a result of all of these factors.

3. Write a note on:
(a) The Oriya novel
(b) Jane Austen’s portrayal of women
(c) The picture of the new middle class which the novel Pariksha-Guru portrays.

Solution

(a) In 1877-78, Ramashankar Ray began serialising the first Oriya novel, “Saudamini,” but the project was abandoned before it could be completed. Fakir Mohon Senapati was Orissa’s first great novelist, and he was also its first notable poet. He authored a novel called “Chaa Mana Atha Guntha,” which is about land and the possession of it. Throughout this storey, it was demonstrated that rural troubles can be a significant element of metropolitan difficulties.

(b) Early nineteenth-century British author Jane Austen depicted the lives of ladies from aristocratic country life in her novels and short stories. Her novels address the societal conventions that women were expected to adhere to—most notably, that it was their responsibility to marry affluent husbands who could provide them with both financial and social stability. The women in Jane Austen’s novels are not always shown to conform to social convention. Despite the fact that her writings are representative of the culture in which she lived, the protagonists of her novels are always strong, independent women.

(c) ‘Pariksha-Guru’ is a story about the problems faced by the emergent middle class in assimilating into colonial society while maintaining their cultural identities and traditions. It emphasises that Western ideas must be instilled in children, but that this must be done without abandoning the traditional values of middle-class families. In this Hindi novel by Srinivas Das, the characters are shown attempting to bridge the gap between the two realms of contemporary education and ancient principles, which are diametrically opposed.

Discuss

4. Discuss some of the social changes in nineteenth-century Britain which Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens wrote about.

Solution

(i) Thomas Hardy wrote extensively about the traditional rural villages of England, which were rapidly disappearing at the time of his writing. In this period, large farmers began fencing off their holdings, purchasing equipment, and paying labourers to produce for the markets, among other things. During this phase of transition, there were less independent farmers. This transition is depicted in Hardy’s masterpiece, The Mayor of Casterbridge, which is set in the same town.

(ii) Charles Dickens wrote on the bleak consequences of increasing industrialisation on the lives of ordinary people. The majority of his works are about the terrible consequences of huge equipment and smoking chimneys. Everything, from the filthy buildings to the polluted rivers, appeared to be the same. Unless they are operating machines, the workers are referred to as ‘hands,’ and have no other identity except that of machine operators. Throughout his works, Dickens ridiculed the greed for profits while also portraying the lack of human feel and compassion.

5. Summarise the concern in both nineteenth-century Europe and India about women reading novels. What does this suggest about how women were viewed?

Solution

Women reading novels was a source of concern in both nineteenth-century Europe and India, and the concerns were more or less the same in both places. Women were regarded as readily corruptible, and the fictional world created by the novel was regarded as a potentially harmful gateway into the imaginations of its readers.

In various communities, it was believed that women who read books would leave their homes and want to be a part of the outside world (the male domain) and hence would be forced to leave their homes.

This shows that women were regarded as fragile and incapable of standing on their own two feet. They were only expected to marry a man who could provide for their financial necessities while they helped him maintain his household and remained in his subservience to him and his family.

6. In what ways was the novel in colonial India useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists?

Solution

The novel in colonial India was useful for colonisers as well as nationalists on account of a variety of reasons:

(i) Colonial rulers found vernacular novels to be illuminating and informative, and they encouraged their subjects to read them. This understanding was beneficial for the proper administration of justice in India. The ‘vernacular’ novels depicted the customs, habits, religious beliefs, and dress norms of diverse societies through the eyes of the characters.

(ii) For the nationalists, book writing served as an effective weapon against colonial control, and they employed it to great effect. As a result of the British Raj, the writers painted a grim picture of the country’s plight. In addition, they depicted the ill-treatment meted out to Indians by the colonial authorities.

7. Describe how the issue of caste was included in novels in India. By referring to any two novels, discuss the ways in which they tried to make readers think about existing social issues.

Solution

Indians used the novel as a potent medium to criticise what they perceived to be flaws in their culture and to provide solutions to the problems they saw. For the same reason, the problem of caste was included into Indian books as well.

‘Indulekha,’ a love storey based on the lines of Benjamin Disraeli’s novel “Henrietta Temple,” is a commentary on the marriage rituals of upper-caste Hindus in Kerala, and was written by O Chandu Menon in the early 1900s.

The author (himself a member of a “upper caste”) uses the characterisations of his primary characters to juxtapose the ignorant and immoral Nambuthiri Brahmins against the educated and modern Nayars, who are both members of the higher caste.

While some writers, like as Chandu Menon, wished to see improvements inside their own castes, others wished to see reforms throughout all of caste-based society. Potheri Kunjambu (a writer from Kerala who belongs to a “lower caste”) takes aim at caste injustice in his work “Saraswativijayam.”

The novel depicts a young “untouchable” guy fleeing his community in order to avoid being subjected to caste-based tyranny. His village had filed a lawsuit against the local Brahmin bully for the murder of this young guy after he converted to Christianity and received contemporary education. He returned to his village as a judge in the local court, where people had accused the local Brahmin bully of murdering this young man.

In the end, the judge exposes his true identity, and the Nambuthiri confesses his sins and vows to change. This novel, in addition to being critical of the higher castes, emphasises the necessity of education in the upliftment of the lower castes.

8. Describe the ways in which the novel in India attempted to create a sense of pan-Indian belonging.

Solution

The novel in India attempted to create a sense of pan-Indian belonging by portraying the country as a land of adventure, valour, romance, and sacrifice, all of which were depicted in the novel.

(i) Srinivas Das’ novel, Pariksha-Guru teaches the readers to remain rooted in their traditional and cultural values. The message conveyed by the author is that everyone should live with decency and honour at all times.

(ii) Premchand’s writings went into great detail about the poverty of the farmers and the oppression they were subjected to on a daily basis. His works conveyed the sense that colonial authority was a negative experience.

(iii) Novelists such as Viresalingam highlighted the vast array of problems in society and provided information on how to correct them.

(iv) The fantastic stories of adventures and intrigues from the golden past were told by many novelists. These novels instilled a sense of national pride in their readers as a result of their magnificent depictions of the country.